Stella looked away to evade his gaze, “Er… what else can it mean?”
Clarence pinched her chin, forcing her to look at him, and said slowly, “Seems like you don’t have a
clear understanding of me.”
When he prepared to kiss her, Stella pushed him away, “Get up. I have something to tell you.”
“What do you want to tell me? And why do I have to get up?”
Stella was rendered speechless.
She tweaked his waist and Clarence let out a stuffy moan.
Stella took the opportunity to get rid of his confinement. She turned over and got out of the bed.
Stella tried to find a pen and a paper in the room, yet failed.
Sitting on the edge of the back, Clarence leaned backwards with his hands on the bed to support his
body and closely fixed his eyes on Stella, “What are you looking for?”
“Pen and paper. Do you have them?”
“Nope. You can call the reception and ask them to send some over.”
‘Oh, that’s true.’ Stella thought to herself.
Stella walked to the bedside table and dialled the reception.
Ten minutes later, a staff of the hotel sent them a pen and some paper.
Stella sat down on the sofa, calmed down herself and then quickly drew on the paper.
After a short while, Clarence sat down beside her, wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and
put his chin on her shoulder, “What are you drawing? Didn’t you say you have something to tell me?”
Stella replied, “It will be finished soon.”
When speaking, she patted the hands on her waist and said seriously, “Let go of me.”
Clarence could only withdraw his hands, leaned against the sofa behind him and watched her drawing
the picture.
About twenty minutes later, the outline of a man’s face was shown on the white paper and Stella began
to add details carefully.
Clarence landed his gaze on the paper and then narrowed his black eyes.
He suddenly said, “You were not so serious and careful when portraying me.”
Stella was rendered speechless.
Stella took a glance at the picture which was almost finished and put it in front of Clarence, “This is
Darnell James.”
“I’ve guessed it. So it’s really hard for me to understand why you said he’s as handsome as me.”
Stella’s eyelids twitched as she was very speechlessly. She then looked at him expressionlessly.
Clarence said, “Go on.”
“Maybe it’s because I failed to portray his temperament, but I think…” Stella continued after a while of
silence, “You two look somehow alike from some aspects.”
“Come on, are you telling me that he’s another illegitimate son of Dempsey?”
“Then he should be like Justin. Does it have any relationship with you?”
Clarence raised his brows, “Really?”
Stella ignored him and continued, “I heard from you before that except for Ms. Anderson, you haven’t
seen other relatives. So I guess…”
Clarence rubbed her hair, “Honey, you’ve thought too much of it. I haven’t seen them because they’re
all dead.”
Stella was stunned for several seconds, “But didn’t you say that you never asked Ms. Anderson about
this?”
“I never asked her about this. But I investigated it.”
Stella replied with a nasal sound after a long while and then said, “Maybe I’ve thought too much of it.”
She had only seen Darnell several times and only at the moment she first saw him did she feel he
looked like Clarence. Maybe it was just an illusion.
“It’s late. You should go to bed early.”
Clarence looked towards the picture on the tea table, his eyes turning gloomy, and slightly pressed his
thin lips together.
Stella had done a good job and actually, she even showed Darnell’s temperament in the picture.
As Clarence had to deal with some work, he directly went to the living room outside.
Lying on the bed, however, Stella couldn’t fall asleep.
After turning over on the bed several times, she got her phone and dialled Archer.
Archer said, “We gave him another examination today and his condition has been stabilized so far.
We’re now working on a treatment plan. This can be regarded as a piece of good news, right?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I have to deal with other matters. Let’s stop here.”
“Okay.”
Stella, who had been restless before, put her phone back on the bedside table, looked out of the
window and finally calmed down.
At least, everything was progressing positively.
Several minutes later, Stella’s phone rang. She turned on her phone and found it was a message from
Archer.
They were two photos of the baby.
In one photo, he was pulling a toy’s ear in a crib.
In the other photo, he was sleeping with his small fists clenched.
Stella saved the two photos and studied them for a long time. Then she finally felt sleepy.
After making sure that Stella had fallen asleep, Clarence put down the documents, stood up, walked to
the balcony and dialled Dolores. But the busy tone reminded him that Dolores had turned her phone
off.
Clarence’s face turned seriously cold. He then dialled Nathan, “Is there any news from Whalegrove
City?”
“Nope. Mr. Conrad, did anything happen to Mrs. Conrad?”
“Send someone there tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
Clarence added after a while of silence, “Let our men in City N investigate my mother’s family
background and her relationship with the James family.”
Nathan, who was at the other end of the phone, was stunned for a while. He immediately replied, “I will
arrange it right away.”
Clarence replied with a nasal sound and put his phone back into his pocket, looking at the distance.
At this point, there were just a few people by the riverside and only the ships at the distance were
glimmering.
…
At midnight, Stella felt a person lying down beside her. She opened her eyes in a daze, not clearing
whether she had forgiven Clarence or not.
Before she could take any action, Clarence had pulled her into his arms and said tiresomely, “Close
your eyes and continue to sleep.”
Stella closed her eyes in a daze, and the man wanted more. He reached his hand into her pyjamas and
wrapped his arm around her slender waist.
Maybe it was because she had slept for long in the past two days, Stella woke up at dawn. She felt
weak yesterday, but today she felt strong and highly spirited.
Looking at the man near her who was still sleeping, Stella gently caressed his wrinkled brows.
What could she blame Clarence for?
She was also clear of it.
After all, she was angry that she was so close to the truth numerous times, but he still deceived her and
persuaded her that it was her illusion effortlessly. She was also on the verge of mental breakdown
several times.
However, even if she picked the baby back at that time, she could not protect the baby like Clarence
did.
In the past, she frequently thought that the child’s existence was meaningless to Clarence and that he
was a burden or a yoke to Clarence, and a burdensome existence that he urgently wanted to get rid of.
Until the baby got sick and then came to Riverside…
Only then did she realize that Clarence had much more care towards the baby than she knew.
It was just that they had different ways to express their love.
Clarence had been like this since childhood – he was sharp-toned, yet had a soft heart.
Although he despised it verbally, he had done many more things for him than others.
It was Clarence who had overtaken everything since the child’s birth.
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